Whoa Nelly! Are Boulder County Home Prices Dropping?

By Robert Kelly, LRA Owner/Managing Broker

It has been quite awhile since I have reported any signs of a cooling effect in Boulder County, but the numbers appear to be bearing that out. According to Altos Research, home prices in our market have been trending downward quite significantly in recent weeks, as more homes are available and demand is declining. We might expect this trend to continue, especially if the Market Action Index falls into the Buyer’s zone. While we do keep our eye on the area we serve in East Boulder County, this week's blog focuses on the movement we are seeing in our hometown, Louisville. The statistic we like to keep an eagle eye is on the number of listings that have reduced their prices: ready for it? Fifty-seven percent (57%) of home sellers in Louisville in the past 90 days have reduced their price. That is way up from 9% in March of last year. And these numbers are not too different for our neighboring towns. Check it out here.

In the market for Louisville's single family homes, the median list price took a large dip down from $739,000 in early August 2018 to $637,000 in November 2018. Louisville's inventory is currently at a relatively high level for the fall season, as we now have 42 homes on the market, not too far below the 55 homes in August. "Days on Market" (DOM) has ticked up from 60 days in early August, to 72 days in November, which includes time to close. And as I already stated earlier but it bears repeating in case you skimmed it, a large number of sellers continue to lower their price: 57% in fact have offered price reductions this fall, way up from 9% in March 2017.

Sellers may be sobering up from the non-stop 6 year party of a super hot market and realize if they want to sell, they need to be realistic about pricing. According to the Colorado State Demographers Office, while our state's population has grown by almost 1 million residents, from 4.9 million in 2007 to almost 5.7 million in 2018, the rate of those moving to Colorado is slowing down. This is a buyer friendly trend but it could also be seasonal since there are more homes on the market that weigh into this statistic.

Source: Altos Research via Chicago Title of Colorado, Inc. (click on graph for more details)

Check out all current Louisville listings here. If you would like to see housing data for East Boulder County, there are plenty of statistics to check out in such as "Days on Market", "Total Inventory" and "Newly Listed Homes". We track all these market statistics for Single Family Homes (SFH) for most of neighboring towns on a monthly basis, including Louisville, Erie, Lafayette and Superior. Check out latest market statistics here. And give us a call if you have any questions! At Louisville Realty Associates, we have the experience, energy and depth of knowledge to help you list your home for the best price. You can reach us anytime at info@louisvillerealtyassociates.com.